Okay, here I am again! This time, though, I'm writing for my fall English final! As you all can tell, this is an If I Stay one-shot "missing chapter". I wanted to get more in-depth with Kim and Mia's friendship, but I feel like I didn't do the series justice. Oh well, too late now to change it, its already been turned in! On that note, please enjoy whatever this is. . .
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, or the premise of the story. All that goes to the wonderful Gayle Forman! I only wrote this dinky little thing here.
Last Saturday Kim and I went to Portland for the day. Just the two of us. We did all the touristy things that we never really got the chance to do before, like see the Japanese Garden, get doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts, visit the farmers market, and just wander around downtown, seeing the sights.
It had been Kim's idea. She wanted for us to do something together because our friendship had dwindled down to quick chats in the hall between classes and short lived coffee dates. Ever since Adam and I started dating, Kim seemed to fall by the wayside, and I didn't want our friendship to end like that, so when her text about a girls' trip to Portland popped up on my phone, I jumped at the chance to finally hang out like we used to.
When that Saturday finally rolled around, Kim was at my house and ready to go at eleven o'clock.
Hopping into her beat up camry, the first thing Kim had said was "I was starting to think you were avoiding me. It's been three weeks, dude."
"Well, you know, I've been pretty busy with cello and school," I had replied lamely. It hadn't been a lie, but I could have made the time, I just never did.
"Oh yeah, has Juilliard accepted you yet? I mean, what are they waiting for, you're like the best cellist since that Yo-Yo guy," Kim said off-handedly.
"Its Yo-Yo Ma."
"Yeah, him"
"And there is no way I'm as good as the master," I had drawled. She had always had too much faith in me.
The drive to Portland had taken us about an hour, with only one slurpee break. Kim had found parking in a parking garage off West Burnside Street, and we were off. The walk to and from the Japanese Garden ended up being too long, and Voodoo Doughnuts was basically right outside the garage, so we had gotten our doughnuts first.
Sitting there, basking in the surprisingly nice weather and catching up with Kim, was all I really wanted out of that trip. I had missed her, I had missed our conversations, I had missed just having her around.
"Don't ever do that again, not even when we leave for college," she had huffed.
"Do what?"
"Don't just stop talking to me, dude, I missed us. Promise that you'll stay in touch when you go off to Juilliard," she had said, pinky held up, waiting for me to promise.
"Promise," I had whispered, latching my pinky in hers, and wondered if I could really keep that promise.
8:15 p.m.
The ICU was eerily quiet, except for the constant beep of heart rate monitors. Kim sat next to my bed, head down as she sat there and I wondered how much sleep she'd gotten recently. Walking up to her hunched form, I gently place my hand on her back, even though I know she can't feel it, and kneel next to her.
"You better buck up buttercup, I can't do this without you," she breathes out, looking at my body sternly as if making demands would help. Kim wasn't one to cry, so when a stray tear rolled down her cheek, I had to look away. I had had enough tears cried over my body in the last few days to last me a lifetime.
Standing back up, I headed for the door, hoping to clear my head with a walk around the hospital. It seemed as if everyone had been saying their goodbyes recently, and I've been wondering if maybe I should be too.